Sunday, July 13, 2008

Departure

Zesiro watches the planet below grow smaller as her drop-ship speeds towards the Floating Nile.Ogmundr had insisted on staying to fight these savage “Orks,” and no amount of persuasion was changing his mind.The Artist had decided to stay as well, somehow swayed by Ogmundr’s battlelust.Even her child had left, returning to his strange flying moon.Only Anna remained.So be it.Together they would find these “Courts of Chaos.”Together they would unlock the secrets of the Queen’s heritage.

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As Zesiro busies herself with the mathematical sorcery needed for her journey, Anna goes with the priests for her transformation into something she hopes will once again look human.

With each new universe that The Floating Nile travels through along this “shadow path,” the calculations change. New stars, new planets, new forms of life, steadily each grow more and more bizarre. The rules of each universe grow more and more strange, forcing her to adapt to places where there is no light, or gravity, or sound, or where even the simplest mathematical functions breakdown.

Meanwhile, Anna returns from her surgery with new found confidence. The priests have restored her visage to its former beauty. She practically glows with adoration for what Zesiro has done for her.

Days quickly turn to weeks as the Floating Nile forces its way through shadow. The stars and worlds circle around the ship, but no longer resemble anything through which it has traveled before. They’ve become more akin to floating debris and unidentifiable sources of light.Anna spends most of her time enjoying the life of luxury. However, while her technological knowledge is little, she helps the priests to understand many new medicines they did not know the formulas to before.

Nearly a month since you’re journey began your sorcery can no longer find the way. You are forced to stop in a strange universe, with many strange races. It appears that here they have the power to move their chunks of rock individually or in groups, and several have set up a form of marketplace from larger asteroids and smaller floating clumps of dirt. Strange ships dock at many of these areas, some conforming to what you would consider space-worthy, while others don’t even seem seaworthy. At the approach of The Floating Nile, many, like scared animals, watch to see if it’s time to flee; but as the ship appears peaceful, they begin to relax, and continue trading, gossiping, and general mingling with one another.

A large sign floats into view, strangely written in your native tongue.

Zesiro looks puzzled as she looks out from the bridge of the Great Temple, studying the sign.

"This...this had better not be the end of our journey."

She turns. "Anna, prepare yourself. We must find out from these people where to go next."

After Anna is ready, she boards one of the small pyramid ships, followed by her guards and a pair of priests to fly the craft. They descend from The Floating Nile to the main gathering place of this...shit-hole.

As Zesiro leaves the docking craft she is accosted by both the sensory overload of the market, and the actual denizens. More forms of life than she’s encountered so far rush forward to offer trades and bargains, most in undecipherable languages. Various spices, meats, and maybe just garbage produce a scent that brings tears to the eyes and nearly bucklers her knees. Some traders use flashing lights to draw attention to their sections while others use sirens. Your retinue keeps them at a distance, but they continue to shout out offers.

Zesiro looks at the offers from a distance as they walk through the bazaar. She takes a table at the nearest booth that could pass as an "eating establishment" and quizzes the waitress, "Where can we get information on the Courts of Chaos?"

"NOO""SPEE-KOH""KAY-OHS"The waitress tries to hand Zesiro a tablet, but after the glare of the scorpion men, just sets it on the table.She then points to a picture of "food" on the tablet, points to her mouth, points to you, then finally points to the tablet.She mutters something under her breath as she uses a rag to "clean" the table."Somonofietaleekadon doboto Shit-Hole."She moves on to the next table.

Zesiro picks something palatable off of the tablet and hands it to Anna. "Well, first we should find someone who actually speaks our language."

She concentrates for a moment, her mind reaching out to each of the hundreds of spiders, snakes, scorpions, centipedes, and other creatures hidden in the nooks and crannies of this dirty, forgotten world. "Find this for me."

A small light flashes on the table and the waitress returns.Looking at the indicator she points to a short, fat, green man, sitting in a chair surrounded in junk."OOBAH SOOMA TOOBA" She says exasperated.She pretends to pull something out of her pocket, and then pretends she’s handing it to someone.She gestures to the fat Martian again.“OOBAH SOOMA”

Millions of the venomous set forth to the task, and are able to quickly find dozens of people who speak your language. All are busying themselves with various aspects of trading, negotiating, and bartering.

The waitress makes a rude gesture, and quickly fills the table with new customers.

The nearest of the individuals found is a dirty, greasy, short man with long curly blond hair protuding from his scalp in all directions. He appears to be trading engine parts for various items; food, magazines, tools, etc.

When you approach he takes notice."Aaah, a lady of Chaos, it is true then that some of you still live. What can I do for your noble personage?"

"Used up. Pushing up daisies. In the dead book. Gone. Dead. D-E-D. However you put it, ain't no one sees 'em around no more, and ain't no one pays attention to 'em no more. What was left was looted, and by now is scattered through a million different cosmos. Probably nothing left there but rock."

"Well, the area around the Shit-hole's pretty much a big maze, so you're gonna need to find someone who knows his way around. As the Zangarianese say, 'No object of value, no service.'" He pauses. "That sounds horrible translated. It sounds much better in the native tongue. It even rhymes. Let's try that again. Ass, gas, or grass, nobody rides for free."

"Well I'll get you where you need to go, but I already told you where they went.R MOE GEDDONThe Big one.The War to End All Wars.Them and the Knights of Too-Much-Fricken Order...Er..Structure?Pattern?Pattern.Them and the N-o-P's went at it and the Knights won.Killed them to the last man, scoured the land, salted the earth, all that stuff.Ain't gonna find nothing there but ghosts.Not even real ghosts, just faded memories. Sticks and stones, ash and dust.It's pretty depressing.And all the good stuff's already been looted."

The piece of earth carrying; Zorah, Zesiro, her four guards, Anna and of course Mutt, rockets its way through mostly empty space. There appear to be no distinguishable “landmarks,” just the occasional field of lifeless rock. The trip is several hours, and Zorah doesn’t have much to say, other than occasionally speaking with Anna about how he’s getting paid. She gives him the names of several medicines that appear to make him content.Finally, the area becomes crowded with earth and stone. First, you fly past empty rocks, but then it gives way to the ruins of an obviously large and ancient civilization. It’s everything Zesiro imagined and more, and humbles even the mighty Floating Nile in both beauty and function. Anna is in silent awe.Zorah is respectfully quiet.Even Mutt is still for a moment. Until he realizes he has an itch on his back.